Sept. 30, 2019 By Allie Griffin
New York City together with the state has invested $1 million for legal services for immigrants who are facing imminent deportation, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) announced last week.
The investment will support the work of the new Rapid Response Legal Collaborative (RRLC), a coalition of immigrant legal service providers that offers legal support to those detained or at imminent risk of detention and deportation.
It will also expand the capacity of the ActionNYC hotline, which provides immigrants with legal help in more than 200 languages and with the scheduling of free appointments with an ActionNYC provider. With the new funding, the hotline will now be open evenings and on weekends, often periods of high need.
The investment follows the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) announcement that it will expedite removal of undocumented immigrants, meaning they may be deported without a hearing before an immigration judge. New York City has called upon DHS to rescind this notice.
“Immigration enforcement and threats have created widespread fear and concern among our immigrant communities and dramatically increased the need for community education, rapid response and more immediate, quality legal assistance,” said Bitta Mostofi, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs. “With this investment, we stand up for immigrant New Yorkers in moments of crisis – when they are at high risk of fast deportation and devastating separation from their families and communities.”
Immigration enforcement in the city has almost doubled since President Donald Trump took office, according to the MOIA data. Under de Blasio, the city has invested more than $30 million to fund a range of immigration legal help, from community-based screenings and advice to removal defense.
“Legal services are key to ensuring that the rights of immigrant families are protected,” Assembly Member Catalina Cruz said. “At a time when our community is under constant attack, I am proud to see our city and state uniting to ensure that we can get assistance to immigrant families as quickly as possible.”
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10 Comments
Illegal Immigrants get our legal citzen’s money. Only in this insane time would this be considered a good idea.
Absolutely insane. How much more money can be wasted and how much more obvious can the pandering be? Enough Already!
Am I missing something here. Aren’t illegal aliens supposed to be deported? Why waste money and resources on people who don’t belong here.
Trump says not paying taxes makes him smart. Was he wrong?
Those $30 million could be used for welfare
Hey that money is coming from our pockets!
$30 million to help illegal immigrants, that could help many homeless people. Priorities are in the wrong place.
This a a perfect example on how illegal immigrants become a burden to the taxpayer. First, they break the law then the open border politicians makes us pay for their legal services. Those $30 million could have been used to provide relief to the american homeless living on NYC streets. People who vote down this comment are also part of the problem.
Didn’t he pretend Mexico would make a “one-time payment” for it?
Why does Trump want open borders?
He didn’t fail, the opposition from the left who pander to illegal immigrants didn’t allow for it. It is still being built as we speak but slower than anticipated. More important is the fact that I would rather see this $30mm used for a wall, schools, homeless or veterans associations than spoon-feeding these illegal immigrants who are not legal citizens.